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Album Cover of Passion (Sanctuary)
Sanctuary is the opening theme song of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It is sung and written by Utada Hikaru. Its Japanese counterpart is called Passion, and it reached #2 in the Oricon Singles Chart in 2006. It is also the second single from This Is the One, released only in Japan (both the Opening and Ending versions), thereby under the name Utada, not Utada Hikaru. However, Sanctuary was not included in the Japanese version of the album (it was on the US as a bonus track [physical release only]).
Both versions of the song contain reversed lyrics, voiced by Utada herself. The reversed lyrics are in English in both versions. They include; "My heart's a battle ground" which is played in English even in the Japanese version of the song. The reversed portion of the songs are "I need more affection than you know"; in the "Battleground" sections, "So many ups and downs" and "I need true emotions" are the two other examples of the reversed lyrics.
In an interview, Utada said, "It's like... as if 'Hikari' was the dawn, and 'Passion' has a concluding or 'dusk' feeling to it. The lyrics of 'Passion' show how phases of the past, present and future of the character in my song relate to each other."
At the end of Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance a different version, called "After the Battle" is used. This version is much quieter for most of the song until the ending part of it, which uses a faster instrumental than the rest of the song.
Like Simple and Clean, there is an instrumental version of the song that is used for the menu trailer of "Kingdom Hearts II" called "Passion －Kingdom Orchestra Instrumental Version".
Opening[]
Kingdom Hearts II[]
The opening starts off with Sora talking about scattered dreams and far off memories, saying he wants to "collect the pieces". We then see Kairi making the Wayfinder she gave to Sora on Destiny Islands beach. The tide hides a seashell in the sand, and we see Sora, Riku and Kairi at the palm tree they always hung out at, watching the sunset. Suddenly Kairi and Riku disappear like dust in the wind. Sora doesn't seem to distressed by this, and get determined to do something, jumping off the tree as the world around him disappears.
Suddenly Sora is at Hollow Bastion with Donald and Goofy, Keyblade in hand. He destroys a few Heartless and ascends the stairs where he suddenly finds himself in the Grand Hall, where he sees and unconscious Kairi. He rushes over to her to see if she's okay, but soon realizes that Riku is behind him, wearing his dark armor. Riku is then seen in a similar situation as the first opening, with the wave about to hit him asking Sora to come with him, but Sora rushes to fight him rather than save him. They exchange blows before Riku suddenly turns into Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Sora attacks him, and we transition to Ansem opening the Door to Darkness and getting destroyed, followed by Riku telling Sora to take care of everyone. We then see Sora releasing his heart and saving Kairi.
Kairi sadly stands on Destiny Islands, gazing out into the horizon. She then sees sparkles fall from the sky as the worlds get restored. Sora shouts something to Kairi as he drifts into the Realm of Darkness to rescue Riku. Kairi stares at the hole between realms, and suddenly we cut to a year later. Kairi is still looking out into the horizon, looking distant at first before sadly smiling.
We then cut to Naminé in Castle Oblivion. She draws a picture of a spiral staircase, which suddenly becomes real. Sora, Donald and Goofy are seen running up this staircase, destroying Heartless along the way. They are suddenly confronted by a hooded figure and DiZ, before Sora finds himself facing Marluxia. The two fight, and we see Riku fighting Ansem at the same time.
Sora, Donald and Goofy are then seen chasing a Riku up the spiral staircase, we briefly see the real Riku following Mickey on the staircase too, but they are upside down and heading downstairs. Sora finally makes it to the room Naminé is in, but she immediately puts him in a Memory Pod. Sora then falls asleep, and is then seen flying back to Destiny Islands, which forms around him. He is last seen holding hands with Riku and Kairi as they lie on the beach.
Suddenly the camera is plunged into the black void from the first opening, as Roxas emerges from Sora like an object slamming into the ocean, and he drifts down into the void similar to how Sora did in the first opening. Roxas eventually lands on something. He tries to look around, but as soon as he takes a step a flock of doves fly out from under him, revealing that he's standing on a mural of Sora.
358/2 Days[]
The opening starts with an organization XIII meeting, with Saïx explaining their plan to destroy Heartless to create Kingdom Hearts. We then see the conversation Axel had with Roxas in Twilight Town, about whether or not they have hearts.
We then see a montage of who is in the Organization, followed by the scene of Xemnas giving him his name Roxas and inducting him into the Organization. We then see Roxas seeing Hayner, Pence and Olette enjoying their summer vacation, eating ice cream, followed by Axel eating the same ice cream atop the clock tower for the first time, although Axel doesn't seem to like the taste.
The opening with Axel asking Roxas if he remembers his first days in the Organization.
Lyrics[]
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| Sanctuary | |
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Opening Sequences[]
Trivia[]
- It is worth noting that the version of "Passion" found in this single differs slightly from the version used for Kingdom Hearts II, which is missing the last verse, and also has the added lines, "Hito shirezu/My Heart's a Battleground" (Hidden Away/ My Heart's a Battleground.) It has been titled the "Opening Version" on the Kingdom Hearts II soundtrack. Its counterpart, also known as the "after the battle" version, is a stripped version of the single version, with only piano and vocals, following by the instrumental with piano, drums, guitars and cold electronic foreground synths.